"I was on scene about one minute post-explosion," he told Mashable. "In those first moments, people were saying 'bomb' rather than 'gas explosion' but either way, I had a sense of what images I was looking for. As the scene evolved, I tried to document the events as they unfolded," he said.

Blaney said he had a "classic photojournalistic conflict": Should he help the wounded or document the event? The fact that he's also an emergency medical technician only made the decision more difficult. "I was happy that those who were injured were getting plenty of immediate appropriate attention, and I heard at least one person identify themselves as a doctor, so although conflicted, I was okay with sticking to my role in documenting the event," he said.

Blaney's photographs show the immediate aftermath of the blast: New Yorkers picking each other up from the street, rescuers pulling restaurant workers out from the rubble and fire officials fighting the blaze.

NYC Explosion Blaney

New Yorkers gather around a person and debris thrown into the street by an explosion that ripped through a sushi restaurant in the East Village on Friday, March 27, 2015.

Two men look up at a woman climbing down the fire escape of a building damaged by the explosion. The man in the hat was said to be an off-duty firefighter; the woman is a resident of the building and was home at the time of the blast.

A woman escaping from the building damaged by the gas-related blast works to lower the fire escape ladder to access the street below. At least two people believed to be in the restaurant remain unaccounted for after the explosion.

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.